USS Tang (SS-306)

USS Tang (SS-306), off Mare Island Navy Yard, December 1943
History
United States
Name:	USS Tang
Ordered:	15 December 1941
Builder:	Mare Island Naval Shipyard
Laid down:	15 January 1943
Launched:	17 August 1943
Commissioned:	15 October 1943
Struck:	8 February 1945
Fate:	Sunk by own torpedo off China in the Taiwan Strait, 24 October 1944
General characteristics
Class and type:	Balao-class diesel-electric submarine
Displacement:	1,470 long tons (1,490 t) surfaced 2,040 long tons (2,070 t) submerged
Length:	311 ft 10 in (95.05 m)
Beam:	27 ft 4 in (8.33 m)
Draft:	16 ft 10 in (5.13 m) maximum
Propulsion:	4 × Fairbanks-Morse Model 38D8- 1⁄8 9-cylinder opposed-piston diesel engines driving electrical generators 2 × 126-cell Sargo batteries 4 × high-speed Elliott electric motors with reduction gears 2 × propellers 5,400 shp (4.0 MW) surfaced 2,740 shp (2.04 MW) submerged
Speed:	20.25 kn (23.30 mph; 37.50 km/h) surfaced 8.75 kn (10.07 mph; 16.21 km/h) submerged
Range:	11,000 nmi (13,000 mi; 20,000 km) surfaced at 10 kn (12 mph; 19 km/h)
Endurance:	48 hours at 2 kn (2.3 mph; 3.7 km/h) submerged 75 days on patrol
Test depth:	400 ft (120 m) but dived below 600 ft (180 m)
Complement:	10 officers, 68 enlisted
Armament:	10 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes 6 forward, 4 aft 24 torpedoes 1 × 5-inch (127 mm) / 25 caliber deck gun Bofors 40 mm and Oerlikon 20 mm cannon

USS Tang (SS-306) was a Balao-class submarine of World War II, the first ship of the United States Navy to bear the name Tang. She was built and launched in 1943.

In her short career, Tang sank 33 ships totalling 116,454 tons. Commander Richard O'Kane received the Medal of Honor for her last two engagements (23 and 24 October 1944).

Tang was sunk during the last engagement by a circular run of her final torpedo, going down in 180 ft (55 m) of water. 78 men were lost, and the nine survivors were subsequently picked up by a Japanese frigate and taken prisoner. This was the only known occasion on which a Momsen lung was used to escape a sunken submarine.

The contract to build USS Tang was awarded to Mare Island Naval Shipyard on 15 December 1941, and her keel was laid down on 15 January 1943. She was launched on 17 August sponsored by Mrs. Alix M. Pitre, wife of Captain Antonio S. Pitre, Director of Research at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, and commissioned on 15 October 1943 with Lieutenant Commander Richard O'Kane, former executive officer of Wahoo, in command, and delivered to the Navy on 30 November 1943.

The USS Tang completed fitting out at Mare Island and moved south to San Diego for 18 days of training before sailing for Hawaii. She arrived at Pearl Harbor on 8 January 1944 and conducted two more weeks of exercises in preparation for combat.

The USS Tang departed Pearl Harbor on 22 January 1944 to begin her first war patrol, destined for the Caroline Islands-Mariana Islands area. On the morning of 17 February, she sighted a convoy of two freighters, five smaller ships, and their escort. The submarine tracked the convoy, plotted its course, and then prepared to attack. An escort suddenly appeared at a range of 7,000 yd (6,400 m) and closing. Tang went deep and received five depth charges before the escort departed. Unscathed, she returned to periscope depth and resumed the attack. The range on the nearest freighter closed to 1,500 yd (1,400 m), and Tang fired a spread of four torpedoes. Three hit, and Gyoten Maru (6,800 tons) sank by the stern. The submarine cleared the area by running deep and then attempted to get ahead of the convoy for a dawn attack, but the remaining freighter passed out of range, protected by aircraft.